1. Field of the Invention
The invention is generally related to the field of formulation and use of fertilizer compositions for agricultural use. More specifically, the invention relates to fertilizer compositions that contain viable Bacillus bacteria and decontaminated animal manure.
2. Related Art
One of the principal goals of agricultural science has been to invent a perfect fertilizer composition that is capable of optimizing food plant production when used at minimum application rates and that, subsequently, will not degrade or adversely affect the soil ecosystem. The present invention attains this goal.
It is well understood that nitrogen (N), the single most important plant nutrient, has been over used in modern agriculture in an effort to encourage maximum plant yields. Nitrogen in the form of soluble nitrates is particularly harmful to the environment since nitrates readily leach out of soil and cause pollution of ground and surface waters.
Technology that permits lower use rates of N while maintaining plant yields is required worldwide. The present invention provides such technology by combining unique ingredients and processing them in such a way as to arrive at potentiated fertilizer compositions capable of effecting substantial benefits in plant production. The novelty of the present invention relates to specific synergisms between the various ingredients and to the processing technology that renders such ingredients functional.
Microorganisms and animal manures have been utilized heretofore in various fertilizer preparations in the past; yet none of these have achieved substantial commercial success. This is because such prior art has not proven to be economically efficacious under real farming conditions. Technologies involving microbes and animal manures have been plagued with inconsistencies due to the nature of these complex, organic substances.
Animal manure represents a significant resource that is under utilized and, when not properly treated or disposed, causes substantial environmental damage. One significant limitation of manure is the gross microbial contamination present in fresh manure; typically, the total number of viable microorganisms ranges between 1-10 billion per gram. The microbial species composition of fresh manure varies significantly and it is not uncommon to find deleterious putrefying bacteria as well as plant and animal pathogens. Using such manure for food plant production can pose health hazards and when added to soil along with beneficial microorganisms, such as probiotic Bacillus bacteria, the microorganisms contributed by the manure out grow the beneficial probiotic microorganisms. This can lead to unintended, non-advantageous results.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,228,806, Mehta, claims a biochemical fertilizer but no mention is made of using decontaminated manure as a source of the organic ingredients. Other non-manure organics are indicated. A broad list of microorganisms, listed by genera, is claimed in claim 10, which includes Bacillus, but this claim simply lists all the genera that may contain beneficial microorganisms, not novel as they are listed as such in numerous textbooks, and does not give any specific examples of species with performance data. The need for microbial nutrients is mentioned in claim 14 but these must be part of the microorganism ingredient, not the bulk organic ingredient as in my invention (where decontaminated manure feeds the Bacillus). Also, very important, I have discovered that the decontaminated manure specified in my invention uniquely stabilizes our product. Mehta offers claims that specify the need to coat, or encapsulate, microorganisms with a water soluble coating, presumably for stability. This would be costly and unnecessary according to my invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,312,492, Wilson, discloses improved fertilizer effect of poultry manure by adding sulfuric acid followed by drying. Wilson teaches specifically the co-addition of cellulose containing materials. These would decrease the effectiveness of decontaminated manure in my invention as they would not feed the Bacillus microorganisms and would take up valuable space in the product.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,270, Branly et al., focuses on using Bacillus bacteria to enhance the effectiveness of chemical herbicides and lists every imaginable Bacillus ever discovered, and claims they will all benefit this purpose. Unfortunately, the use of chemical herbicides is teaching away from the present invention, which employs a more total organic approach where chemicals are ultimately eliminated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,701, O'Donnell, claims the use of a unique strain of Bacillus laterosporus (BOD strain) to benefit plants. I have tested this strain and it is not the same as our CM-3 strain of Bacillus laterosporus, for example, it does not adhere to plant roots and does not benefit actinomycetes and N-fixing bacteria in the rhizosphere. Nothing in the O'Donnell patent indicates how to compound B. laterosporus into a potentiated biofertilizer with the other active ingredients of our invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,174,472 describes a process of forming a pellet comprised of at least sixty percent composted sewer sludge, up to forty percent cellulosic plant material and up to fifteen percent nutrient materials and chemicals for soil enhancement and plant nutrition that provides a combination of both long and short term beneficiation of soil and herbage and has no pathogenic microbes above regulatory ranges. The composted sewer sludge comprises primary sewer sludge admixed with cellulosic plant material that is thermally treated at temperatures between 140 and 180° F. during composting to destroy mesophyllic pathogenic microbes and the viability of reproducible botanicals including seeds, but leave most thermophilic soil enhancing microbes in a viable state. Additional fibrous cellulosic material and chemicals are admixed with the composted sewer sludge and the mixture pelletized in a thermal process that raises pellet temperature to between 140 to 180° F. The nutrient and chemical materials selectively comprise nitrogenous fertilizers, phosphate, potash, trace elements, herbicides, insecticides and botanical chemicals. In the examples of the patent, three samples of composted primary sewer manure are presented, with the statement that “all of the heavy metal tests and bacterial assays were well within present regulatory standards of the Environmental Protection Agency required for use of the composted product as an agricultural soil enhancer.” However, the levels of cadmium, arsenic, and lead are high enough to be a concern, and these composted primary sewer samples are primarily useful only for ornamental plants and turf production, not food production.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,025,187 describes bacterial complexes comprising at least one non-pathogenic Bacillus and at least one non-pathogenic Lactobacillus which essentially allow the conversion of inorganic nitrogen into organic nitrogen, in the form of bacterial proteins, which allow the conversion of excrement into nitrogenous compounds (stable nitrogenous compounds and/or compost) and, particularly for waste having a sufficient C/N ratio (in relation to the level of solids content), into non-polluting compounds rich in fulvic acid and humic acid, by digestion and conversion of excrements, while at the same time removing the associated pathogenic germs, in particular Clostridium, Bacteroides, colibacilli, Listeria, salmonellae and staphylococci. Unfortunately, the complexes disclosed in this patent require lactobacillus in addition to bacillus, and convert part of the excrement into humic acid, rather than adding humic acid from an external source, wherein the source and composition of the humic acid may be strictly controlled.
There is a great but heretofore unmet need worldwide for technology that permits lower use rates of N while maintaining plant yields. The present invention provides such technology by combining unique ingredients and processing them in such a way as to arrive at potentiated fertilizer compositions capable of effecting substantial benefits in plant production. The novelty of the present invention relates to specific synergisms between the various ingredients and to the processing technology that renders such ingredients functional.